Ukraine - US and Russian Interest

News UPDATE on April 23, 2014: 北约加强东欧军事部署 五艘军舰奔赴波罗的海 NATO enhances its military deployment in Eastern Europe. Five navy ships are hurrying to the Baltic Sea. On April 22, five navy ships left the German port of Kiel heading for the Baltic Sea in order to enhance military deployment in that area and for emergency response in case of a sudden incident to happen. These five NATO ships are coming from Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Estonia. Four ships are minesweepers, one is a supply ship. According to Philip Breedlove, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the NATO ships are intended to ensure maritime safety in the area. [Source: People's Network (China) 人民网 on April 23, 2014: 北约加强东欧军事部署 五艘军舰奔赴波罗的海]

徳媒：美国对俄强硬姿态使欧洲陷入困境 German media: The U.S. [way of] facing Russia's tough attitude gets Europe caught in a difficult position. Obama's [way of] meeting with the tough position of Russia's policy makes Europe suffer from severe loss. [Source: People's Network (China) 人民网 on April 23, 2014: 徳媒：美国对俄强硬姿态使欧洲陷入困境]

美国向乌克兰提供更多军援 欲与波兰深化防务合作

The U.S. provide more military aid for Ukraine and
want Poland to deepen its defence cooperation.

On April 17 and while meeting with his counterpart from Poland, U.S. defence secretary Hagel announced that President Obama had already granted "unlethal" military aid to Ukraine, comprising medicine, helmets, sleeping mats, water cleaning devices, tents and small-size generators, as well as manually operated oil pumps.

This is the second time after Russia entering Crimea in the middle of March that Ukraine receives military help from the U.S.. The first delivery at the end of March comprised food rations for military use.

Furthermore, Hagel made clear the U.S. want Poland to make changes in its defence cooperation. The targeted domains are including special forces, air force, anti-missile units, training and manoeuvre practice and are reaching up to an increased formation of joint air force units together with its allies.

From 2012 on U.S. air force had stationed F-16 war planes in Poland for joint training. At the beginning of March [2014] when the Ukrainian situation worsened, the Pentagon decided to deploy another 12 F-16 war planes and 200 troops in Poland. In that frame, Hagel mentioned as well the participation of Romania where 12 F-16 regularly bought war planes had been deployed last year.

[Source: People's Network (China) 人民网 on April 18, 2014 => 美国向乌克兰提供更多军援 欲与波兰深化防务合作]




Chuck Hagel - First prominent politician from the West to visit
China's aircraft carrier Liaoning in early April 2014.

" The Ukrainian crisis is likely to push Russia to develop a crucial relationship with China, and it’s also probable that the US will cozy up more with China to balance against Russia, both of which benefit China, Chinese expert Andrew Leung told RT. "

The above quotation has been taken from an expert interview on a further deepening of economic cooperation between Russia and China after Russia, pressured by the West, needs to find new markets for its natural energy resources and another payment system, such avoiding the U.S.$ system. => The complete interview was published by RT, Russia's state TV, on its website on April 21, 2014.

A related "independent" comment on this website is reading as follows:
" The bottom line is that the hilarious irony of the situation is that in all its efforts to stop or slow down the formation of another Eastern Bloc, the west has set the stage for something even bigger: the creation of a pan-Eurasian economic union (and potentially, military alliance via expansion of the CSTO).
Eurasia is rising, and in time, the west will realize that it is too late to stop it. "

CSTO is the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the most prominent members of which are China and Russia. In 2013, CSTO already reached an agreement in the Syrian crisis and which was opposing the official NATO position: Russia – China and CSTO draw Red Line about NATO Despotism.




Russia's Putin and China's Xi JinPing on a CSTO meeting in Sochi, February 2014.

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One of today's visitors to "blueprint news" and who came from Odessa, Ukraine.

Eastern Ukraine - Hours Before the Referendum

Latest News on May 11/12, 2014: First voters in the Donezk region. بدء الاستفتاء على الانفصال بشرقي أوكرانيا The Referendum for a Separation of Eastern Ukraine has Begun. بدأ الانفصاليون الموالون لروسيا صباح اليوم الأحد التصويت في إقليم دونباس الذي يشمل مقاطعتي دونيتسك ولوغانسك شرقي أوكرانيا باستفتاء للانفصال عن أوكرانيا، فيما أعلنت واشنطن رفضها لنتائج التصويت، وهددت برفقة حلفائها بتوسيع دائرة العقوبات على روسيا في حال استمرت خطوات إقرار انفصال مناطق شرقي أوكرانيا.ـ On Sunday morning, pro-Russian separatists have begun a vote in the Donbass region and which is comprising [...] Donezk and Lugansk in Eastern Ukraine in a referendum on the separation from Ukraine. Washington meanwhile announced its rejection of the voting results and threatened, [in correspondence with] its allies, to extend the scope of sanctions against Russia in case further steps would be taken [towards a declaration that should establish] the separation of eastern regions from Ukraine. [Source: Al Jazeera الجزيرة on May 11, 2014] .............................. 乌克兰 “地区公投” 难解乱局 Ukraine - "Regional Referendum" - Difficult to Find Disorder In the Donezk and Lugansk area 7,3 million voters were to cast their ballots within eight hours. According to latest information from the election committee and that reached People's Daily on May 11, about 70% of entitled voters in Donezk and 80% in Lugansk participated in the referendum. After the counting of votes, first results will be published on May 12. [Source: People's Network / People's Daily 人民网—人民日报 on May 12, 2014] .............................. "Do you support the act of independence for the People's Republic of Donezk?" Los Angeles Times Expecting Huge Support of Referendum However for Different Reasons Some residents of [Mariúpol in Donezk region] voted for independence Sunday in expectation of soon having their region annexed by Russia. Others cast "yes" votes as what they considered a first step toward demanding more regional autonomy while remaining part of Ukraine. Still others, frustrated by rising prices and a withered national currency, voted in favor of the vaguely worded referendum out of conviction that they can depend on neither Kiev nor Moscow to resolve their political and security problems. Only those supportive — or at least tolerant — of the interim national leadership in Kiev opposed the referendum, and rather than vote "no," many simply stayed away from the polls. Selected opinion from among "yes" voters: "We want to decide our own affairs. We don't want America or Europe coming here, and I don't think we can count on Russia's help." [Source: Los Angeles Times on May 11, 2014]

UPDATE added below on "Germany's Role as a Peacemaker"

Only hours before pro-Russian insurgents will start their referendum for independence from Ukraine, Russia celebrates its victory over Nazi Germany in Moscow and Crimea with its president Putin appearing in both places. As to the referendum he publicly suggested its postponement, thus leaving it to the pro-Russian forces in Slavyansk and Donezk to establish a separate state without giving any evidence that Moscow might be involved in the local uprise.




Headlines from Russia on May 9, 2014

Праздничные салюты в честь Дня Победы прошли в Москве и Севастополе
Holiday salutes honouring the Day of Victory have passed in Moscow and Sevastopol. [Anniversary of Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II]

Украинские силовики устроили стрельбу в центре Мариуполя
Ukrainian [mercenaries] have arranged a shooting in the center of Mariúpol.

Медицинскому самолёту отказано в посадке в Мариуполе для эвакуации тяжелораненого видеожурналиста RT
[On the difficulty] to evacuate a critically wounded videojournalist, working for RT, out of Mariúpol. [Medical aid personnell is not allowed to land in Mariúpol.]

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Local videos related to the situation in Eastern Ukraine. Please note that situations shown here cannot always be verified by independent sources:

May 09:
Video from Slaviansk showing tanks captured by a pro-Russian militia. Militiamen are surrounded by local people chanting "Slava Donbass", thus showing their support of the separation movement:



Mai 06:
"Обстановка в окрестностях Славянска" - "Conditions in the vicinity of Slavyansk." A Russian language video showing the proceedings at a Ukrainian checkpoint out of Slavyansk.



Mai 03:
South-East Ukraine: "Crisis Diary (Unique Documentary Shot by Ordinary People)" - Published by Russia's state TV (RT)



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Germany as a Peacemaker ?



Germany's Peacemaker "Count Baltar":
And sure he is an honourable man .....



"The Black Channel": Even Pinochet was a Nice Guy
Schröder and Putin - A Painful Reality

A "strategic partner" the Kremlin should be - such was the idea of the Social Democratic Party. Some kind of self-deception. Gerhard Schröder's chumminess with Vladimir Putin leads his "comrades" to painfully face the failure of their policy towards Russia. [Der Spiegel, German magazine, online edition from April 29, 2014 => original text]

Results of Eastern Ukraine Referendum

Final Results of the Referendum in Favor of an Independent Development: - Donezk Region: 89.07% voted "yes" [74.87% participation in the vote] - Lugansk Region: 96.2% voted "yes" [75% participation in the vote]

"Do you support the act of independence for the People's Republic of Donezk?"

Following the referendum, officials of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic have not ruled out that in case the situation in the region deteriorates, they may have to request peacekeeping forces to be deployed.

“We will try to cope with it on our own; we don’t want this confrontation to increase, especially on our territory,” Denis Pushilin, co-chairman of the Donetsk People’s Republic, said. "If the situation deteriorates, we reserve the right to ask for a peacekeeping contingent,” he added.

Pushilin has also said that within hours the Donetsk People’s Republic may decide if it is going to stay with Ukraine or not. The republic has also decided not to take part in Ukraine’s presidential elections on May 25, according to media reports.

Moscow says it's not in a rush to respond to the Donetsk People's Republic’s plea of accession.

[Source: Russian state TV (RT) on their website on May 12, 2014]

All data quoted from the Russian source RT are consistent with those from other foreign media and from previous evaluations.

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克里米亚美女检察官被列入欧盟制裁名单

The public prosecutor of Crimea, a beautiful woman, has been added to a name list of those to be sanctioned by the European Alliance.

[Source: CaiJing Wang 财经网, a Chinese news center for finance and economics on May 13, 2014]

Maybe Natalya doesn't need expensive cosmetics from Western Europe .....

U.S. Sanctions - Russia Strikes Back

俄或停止向美国供应火箭发动机 以回应美制裁

Headline: Russia probably stops supplying the U.S.
with missile engines as an answer to U.S. sanctions.

据俄新社5月13日报道，俄罗斯副总理罗戈津13日表示，俄罗斯或暂停向美国供应RD-180和K-33火箭发动机，以回应美国的制裁。

According to a Russian news agency report on May 13, Russia's deputy prime minister Rogozin made clear the same day that Russia suspends further supply of RD-180 and K-33 missile engines to the U.S. as an answer to U.S. sanctions.

[Source: XinHua Network 新华网, quoted by 中国甘肃网 on May 14, 2014]


The RD-180 (РД-180, Ракетный Двигатель-180, Rocket Engine-180) is a Russian-designed-and-built rocket engine. It features a dual-combustion chamber, dual-nozzle design and is fueled by a kerosene/liquid oxygene mixture. Currently RD-180 engines are used for the first-stage of the U.S. Atlas V launch vehicle and which is expended at each launch. Therefore, a steady supply of RD-180 engines is needed.

Doubts about the reliability of the supply chain for the RD-180 arose following the Ukraine crisis in March 2014. For over 13 years since the engine was first used in the Lockheed Martin Atlas III launch vehicle in 2000, there was never any serious jeopardy to the engine supply, despite an uneven record of U.S.-Russian relations since the Cold War.

Deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin now said "Russia will ban the United States from using Russian-made rocket engines for military launches" thus targeting the frequent military payloads of the ULA Atlas V launch vehicle which powers its first stage with two RD-180 engines.

Originally intended was a co-production of the RD-180 engine by Pratt&Whitney, however up to now all engines have been produced in Russia.




test-firing of an RD-180 engine

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Rogozin, one of the senior Russian officials sanctioned by the European Union and United States after Moscow moved to annex Crimea, was turned away when his plane tried to fly to Moscow from Moldova's breakaway Transdniestria region.

According to his tweets in English, Rogozin, who oversees Russia's powerful arms industry, was also blocked by Ukrainian interceptor jets as he tried to fly home from the Russian-speaking region of Moldova bordering Ukraine.

"Upon US request, Romania has closed its airspace for my plane," he tweeted. "Ukraine doesn't allow me to pass through again. Next time I'll fly on board TU-160." The supersonic Soviet-era TU-160 is Russia's largest strategic bomber.

On Saturday the Romanian foreign ministry asked Moscow to clarify whether Rogozin's comments represented "the Russian Federation's official position towards Romania as an EU and Nato member".

[Source: The Guardian, British daily on May 10, 2014]




罗戈津：若摩尔达维亚与欧盟建立联系国关系 俄与其关系或改变

Rogozin: If Moldavia and the EU establish relations of national significance, the relationship between Russia and them will probably change.

[Source: Voice of Russia (Chinese) 俄罗斯之声 on May 12, 2014]

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The Art of War

孙子曰：兵者，国之大事，死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察的。

Sunzi said:
War is a question of vital importance to the state, a matter of life and death, the road to survival or ruin. Hence, it is a subject which calls for careful study.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet Under Attack - Background

UPDATE on September 26 included below.

Video of one of the missiles hit at Black Sea Fleet HQ.
No signs of air defense even attempting to intercept it.

据悉，该指挥所是在苏联时代建立的，曾经是乌克兰海军中央通信中心，编号A-2929，俄军占领克里米亚后，将其改名为黑海舰队指挥部第744通信中心。该中心由多栋地面建筑和一个庞大的天线网组成，还有庞大的地下部分，可以与俄罗斯海军其他舰队和更上级单位通信。

通常来说，这类军事设施本身就具备很强的防御能力，可以抵挡重磅炸弹的直接命中，附近还有防空系统保护，不过，英国和法国提供给乌克兰的“风暴阴影”、“斯卡普-EG”这两款导弹，其“钻孔”战斗部被设计用来专门对付这类目标：在击中目标后，“钻孔”的第一级聚能战斗部会在建筑物的外墙上打出一个洞，第二级高爆战斗部从这个洞里钻进目标建筑物内部爆炸。

It is reported that the command post was established in the Soviet era and was once the Central Communications Center of the Ukrainian Navy, number A-2929, which was renamed the 744th Communications Center of the Black Sea Fleet Command after the Russian army occupied Crimea. The center consists of several above-ground buildings and a large network of antennas, as well as a large underground section that can communicate with other fleets of the Russian Navy and higher-level units.

Usually, such military installations themselves have strong defensive capabilities to withstand direct hits from heavy bombs, and there are air defense systems nearby, but the "Storm Shadow" and "Scalp-EG" missiles [French version of Storm Shadow], provided by Britain and France to Ukraine, with "drilling" warheads are designed to deal specifically with such targets: After hitting the target, the "drill shaped" first-stage warhead will make a hole in the outer wall of the building, and the second-stage high-explosive warhead will drill into the target building from this hole and explode.

值得注意的是，这次袭击是在白天进行的，而以往的类似袭击则是在深夜或黎明时分发动的。不确切的信息显示，乌克兰空军的苏-24M“击剑手”前线轰炸机发射了多枚“风暴阴影”巡航导弹，并发射了3枚AGM-160 MALD诱饵弹，但部署在塔尔汉库特角和贝尔贝克机场的俄军“铠甲-S1”防空系统击落了5枚导弹，3枚导弹则突防成功并击中目标。

视觉证据证实，本月以来，包括在干船坞里被毁的“明斯克”号登陆舰和“顿河畔罗斯托夫”号潜艇在内，黑海舰队已经至少有6艘舰艇遭乌克兰军队攻击，其中4艘被毁或被击沉，黑海舰队面对这种袭击无能为力，被迫将军舰疏散，登陆舰前往亚速海，潜艇则撤往新罗西斯克，当然，新罗西斯克也不安全，那里也曾被乌克兰海军的自杀式无人艇攻击过。

It is noteworthy that this attack was carried out during the day, while similar attacks in the past were distributed late at night or at dawn. Inaccurate information indicates that the Ukrainian Air Force's Su-24M "Fencson" front-line bombers fired multiple Storm Shadow cruise missiles and fired 3 AGM-160 MALD decoy shells, but the Russian "Pantsir-S1" air defense system deployed at Cape Talhancourt and Belbek Airport shot down 5 missiles, and 3 missiles successfully penetrated and hit targets.

Visual evidence confirms that since this month, including the landing ship "Minsk" and the submarine "Rostov-on-Don" destroyed in dry dock, at least 6 ships of the Black Sea Fleet have been attacked by Ukrainian forces, 4 of which have been destroyed or sunk, and the Black Sea Fleet is powerless in the face of such an attack. Forced to evacuate the warships, the landing ship goes to the Sea of Azov and the submarine withdraws to Novorossiysk. Novorossiysk, however, is not safe and has also been attacked by unmanned suicide boats of the Ukrainian Navy.

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UPDATE on September 26:

For fear of Russian air strikes, Ukrainian grain transporters have been temporarily anchoring their ships at night on the Romanian bank of the Danube arm Chilia, which forms the border with Ukraine. Diplomats from the EU and the United States had negotiated this protection option with Romanian and Ukrainian authorities in August, told the director of the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta, Florian Vizan, the German Press Agency (DPA). He had been present at these talks.